The sunlight that shined through the cracks of my curtain brushed against my eyelids and dragged me out of sleep. I slowly cracked my eyes open and blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision. I let out a loud yawn and sat up in my bed. I looked over to my side table to see the time. It was 2:30 in the afternoon.
A blue sticky note was taped on the side my digital clock. It was written in a familiar messy cursive which was Logan’s writing.
Good Morning Kat. I called the school and told them you were not feeling well. You don’t have to go to school today. I’ll see you when I get home later tonight. Have a great day and I hope you’re feeling better.
-Logan
A small smile made its way onto my face after reading my brother’s note. I set the note back down on the side table and dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I took a half an hour shower, allowing my thoughts to run wild as I cleansed my body with my vanilla body wash. After my shower I changed into mint green shorts and a simple white tee shirt.
Surprisingly I wasn’t hungry so I went back to my bed and lay down. I don’t understand why I’m feeling so exhausted. I slept for more than twelve hours so I should be feeling well rested and awake. My thoughts drift back to yesterday and my argument with Kale. I shouldn’t have over reacted. He was trying to make sure I didn’t get hurt by dad again.
What bothered me for a while now was the expression dad had on his face when I asked him when I can see him again. Was he surprised because he didn’t expect me to say that? Or did he not want anything to do with us? Is that why he said I can’t see him anymore?
What if he doesn’t want me in his life while I am desperately trying to fix things between us?
The thought made my heart drop so I tried pushing it away by turning on the tv to some random channel that was playing Criminal Minds.
I was half asleep and half-awake when the sound of the doorbell rang through the house. Criminal Minds was no longer playing on the screen so I turned off the tv before heading downstairs.
I was expecting Evan and Sophia to be at the door or Kale but instead it was Austin. He was wearing black sweat pants and grey tee shirt tied together with his signature black converse. He looked extremely tired but still managed to look cute.
“You look tired.” Austin commented with an amused expression.
“I can say the same thing about you.” I stepped aside from the doorway letting him come inside. “Is your sister still sick?”
“Yeah. She can never sleep for more than hour; she’s so stubborn when it comes to eating properly and taking her medicine. My mom said she’s working nightshift for this entire week and my dad isn’t in town for the whole week.” He explained.
We both fell onto the sofa and let out a tired sigh. I turned on the tv to some random channel that was playing reruns of Twisted.
“Everything okay with you?” he asked.
“Yup.” I said popping the ‘p’.
“Why weren’t you at school?”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t feeling well this morning so Logan let me stay home.”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yeah I guess.” I shrugged.
“Good because I have a lot of things to explain to you.”
He moved from his position and grabbed his bag. He opened it and took out a binder that had the word ‘Chemistry’ written in bold capital letters.
“We did a new lesson today and I have to explain that shit to you and then I have to tell you about our bonding assignment.”
I let out a groan as I buried my face into one of our couch pillows.
“Come on it’s not that bad.” Austin chuckled as he attempted to pull the pillow from my grasp.
“That’s easy for you to say,” I muffled into the pillow. “You’re smart at like every subject.”
Without an explanation, Austin pushed me down so I was lying on my back. His legs were straddled over my hips, a devilish smirk placed on his face. A weird sensation coursed through my body making me feel a certain way but I couldn’t explain it. My heart picked up its pace and was now beating faster than before. What was I feeling?
“Austin what are you-“
I was cut off when Austin’s hands were at my sides tickling me. I was one of those people who were very ticklish, especially in the abdomen area. My eyes widened and I began laughing hysterically. I tried squirming from underneath him but he was too heavy. He finally stopped when I threw the couch pillow at his face, which caused him to lose his balance and we both ended up on the living room floor.
“Now shall I start explain the chemistry lesson to you or do I have to tickle you to death one more time?” he smirked.
I glared at him as I ran a hand through my now messy ombre hair.
“Yes.” I muttered as I got up from the floor.
“Okay, so let’s get started.”
…..
“What the heck is this shit?” I complained.
Austin has been explaining to me today’s chemistry lesson for almost 3 hours and I still didn’t understand what was going on. He let out a tired sigh and closed the textbook.
“Let’s continue this tomorrow.” He yawned and stretched his back. “I’m too tired to teach it right now and you are too tired to take in the information. It never takes me this long to teach you a lesson.”
“It’s because I’m stupid.” I mumbled as I placed my face into my hands.
“Kat you’re not stupid.” Austin said. “Clearly chemistry isn’t your forte so it’s harder for you to learn and absorb the information.”
“I suck at chemistry. I’m freaking failing!”
Austin pulled my hands away from face and held them in his. I looked up at his face and his big brown eyes found my blue sapphire eyes.
“Kat you’re not stupid.” He said softly. “And if you ever you say that you are one more time I will tickle you to death.”
“No, please don’t” I begged immediately.
I may be laughing my head off when I’m being tickled but really I want to strangle the person who is torturing me.
“So don’t think that.” He let go of my hands and scotched away from me so there was a small space between us.
“I’m home!” a male voice announced as he shut the door.
The shuffling of footsteps grew louder and louder until it stopped right at the entrance of the living room. It was Kale. He was wearing slim dark washed jeans, a blue tee shirt and his dark blue low top converse. He had a bag of pastries in one hand and a cup holder with two large beverages in the other.
“Oh am I interrupting something?” Kale asked.
“Nope.” Austin answered as he stood up and picked up his bag. “I have to go anyways. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Kale escorted Austin to the front door and came back to the living room a few moments later. He placed the food and beverages on the table and sat in the place Austin just sat in.
“What time did you come home last night?” he asked quietly. “You look exhausted.”
“I came around 11:00 but I didn’t really sleep well.” I admitted. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“I’m sorry too.” He said. “The last thing I wanted to do was upset you and make you cry. All I was trying to do was protect you.”
“I know.” I gave him a small smile. “I forgive you.”
“I don’t want to see you hurt.” He turned around so he was facing me. “Especially if it is because of dad. I was so scared and upset when I found out you purposely hurt yourself. I thought I was going to lose you Kat. And I never want to feel like that.”
My eyes were watery. Kale never talked about how he felt when he found out. Well he didn’t tell me at least. My twin was really outgoing, optimistic and very positive. He never let anything get to him. He was a strong person. Now knowing how he really felt broke my heart because that is a side of Kale I rarely saw.
Instead of saying anything else I wrapped my arms around him and embraced him tightly. He returned the gesture immediately, hugging me even tighter. When we finally let go, he excused himself upstairs because he was exhausted from school and was desperate for a nap.
I spent the rest of the evening waiting for Logan and reading over the chemistry Austin allowed me to borrow. As I tried my best to read and understand the information displayed on the lined sheets of paper a thought popped into my mind.
Why was dad at mom’s grave?
A/N: I know it's a short chapter and not very well written but I promise the next one will be longer and more eventful.
Updates will probably be more frequent this week and next week because I'm not getting much homework at school yet. Sadly, once it hits maybe mid-september then I'll be busy working my butt off at school so updates will be slower. When that times come please don't abandon this story. I promise you I will finish this story no matter how long it will take me to write.
Also, for the past month I've been planning a new story. I've finished writing the first two chapters and I like where it's going so far. I will post this story on wattpad when 'The Duet' reaches 100 votes and 1.5K reads. As of now this story is at 82 votes and 1.2K reads.
I guess that's all for now. Remember to comment your thoughts/opinions/citiques below and to vote!
-Melissa
[Kat and Austin on the side]